Hi ,
Google's chief economist Hal Varian once claimed that "a simple way to forecast the future is to look at what rich people
have today. Middle-income people will have something equivalent in 10 years, and poor people will have it in an additional decade."
Referred to as the Varian Rule, we've seen this play out through everything from cars to international travel to mobile phones.
Over time, technological progress reduces the cost of goods and services, leading to the dispersal of "luxury" items to middle- and lower-income earners.
The Varian Rule, however, can also be seen in data science and analytics.
A decade ago, BI reporting was only possible for businesses that could afford expensive software and hire specialist report developers. Now, dashboarding reporting tools, such as PowerBI, are as commonplace as Excel, allowing smaller businesses to produce reporting dashboards using drag-and-drop functionality.
Right now, the most technologically mature organisations are making use of AI and machine learning to develop predicitive models and automate manual processes. If the Varian Rule holds true, we should expect these technologies to become commonplace a decade from now.
Here's the thing...
Even if you don't work for a big-tech company, you don't have to wait ten years to make use of AI and Machine Learning. Google, Microsoft and Amazon all offer pre-built models capable of performing advanced AI tasks such as translation, transcription
and optical character recognition, at an affordable price, RIGHT NOW.
It's not cost that's stopping AI and machine learning from being more widely used. It's the knowledge gap, whereby many businesses are unaware of what is even possible. Overcome the knowledge gap and your business can leap ahead 10 years.
Talk again soon,
- Dr Genevieve Hayes
